Oncology Rehabilitation for Pharyngeal Cancer
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Pharyngeal Cancer Supportive Therapies: Oncology Rehabilitation
At Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA), we are committed to helping you maintain strength and independence throughout your fight against pharyngeal cancer. We offer a Rehabilitation Services program designed to help pharyngeal cancer patients implement a personalized, physical fitness regimen. The regimen consists of cardiovascular exercises and flexibility/strength training. These activities may reduce stress, prevent fatigue and improve overall quality of life for our patients.
Our integrated team of physical therapists (PTs), occupational therapists (OTs), and speech and massage therapists strive to educate pharyngeal cancer patients on the physical and psychological benefits of physical therapy and fitness.
CTCA Rehabilitation Services highlights include:
- Evaluation: The rehabilitation team will conduct a thorough physical evaluation of you, prior to initiating physical therapy during your pharyngeal cancer treatment. Part of this initial evaluation consists of a functional assessment, measuring your ability to perform activities of daily living.
Tailored to provide you with the proper amount of exercise, our physical therapy exercise programs combine range-of-motion and flexibility training with light activities, such as resistance and strength training. Appropriate for pharyngeal cancer patients capable of maintaining independent care, these programs help identify and address strength and stamina deficiencies.- Borg Rating of Perceived Exertion: This helps our therapists determine the intensity of exercise you can tolerate, based on increased heart rate, respiration or breathing rate, sweating and muscle fatigue. The scale ranges from 6 (no exertion at all) to 20 (maximum exertion). The Borg system measures exercise as any activity that increases heart rate. Most people achieve 65 to 75 percent of their maximum heart rate during exercise.
- Flexibility program: Stretching is an effective way to relieve joint stiffness and pain, while improving your overall mobility and range of motion. The benefits of stretching include enhancement of performance in everyday activities; improvement of mobility and independence; improvement and maintenance of posture and muscle balance; injury prevention; and, promotion of physical and mental relaxation.
- Manual therapy: Massage therapy is one means of manual muscle therapy offered at CTCA facilities. If you require massage therapy as part of your pharyngeal cancer treatment, you will first obtain a referral from either a physical or occupational therapist.
- Occupation therapy: Our occupational therapists deliver quality-of-life programs to help you achieve and maintain preferred levels of physical independence. By studying you as you interact with your day-to-day surroundings and perform activities of daily living, occupational therapists assess physical mobility. They teach you how to address, and adapt to, any physical limitations resultant from pharyngeal cancer treatment (e.g., showering, dressing, eating, and toileting).
- Speech pathology: Our speech pathologists teach speech therapy and address any swallowing problems that may limit your ability to consume food. If left untreated, an improper swallowing mechanism can cause aspiration, which occurs when food falls into the lung. Speech pathologists will work with the CTCA Nutrition and Food Services staffs to thicken or puree food to the consistency you may require.
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